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Hello audiophile community, looking for a recommendation on the best valued bookshelf speakers between $250 and $400. $400 is on the high end of the budget and I would like to show my friend he can get great sounding speakers without pushing his budget, but he says he's willing to go that high for something worthwhile. I don't suspect my friend has ever spent this much money on speakers and he seems to take great stock in my recommendation so of course I come to you guys. I think it would be best to focus on bookshelf speakers because he lives in an apartment and shouldn't have to constantly worry about disturbing neighbors with too much bass. I was looking at Swan M200MkII's because always piqued my interest but I've been looking at these things forever and they're quite old now, I'm sure there are much better speakers out there for the money now, right? If you recommend Passive's, please recommend an amp to purchase it with, all within the budget.

Can all these speakers be adequately driven by a T-Amp? You know, enough for home use? Not trying to throw any booming parties. Also, I can't see where I input the coupon code on that Wavecrest site :P.

Can all these speakers be adequately driven by a T-Amp? You know, enough for home use? Not trying to throw any booming parties. Also, I can't see where I input the coupon code on that Wavecrest site :P.

If you recommend Passive's, please recommend an amp to purchase it with, all within the budget.

I don't have the amp yet, I'd like to be recommended one with the speakers if possible, and since I'm on a smaller budget I was assuming someone would recommend a T-Amp. It's for a friend, but he will be listening at low to moderate volumes (never loud), probably typically sits a few ft away from his computer where they will be placed. Obviously I can't recommend him $399 speakers since he doesn't have an amp, but if a T-Amp sufficed I could probably convince him to spend the extra $25.

Personally though, I'm digging all these speaker recommendations. Even though this thread is for a friend these recommendations are looking really temping (I have a couple of KRK Rokit 8's, been stuck with them for 3 years :P).

he will be listening at low to moderate volumes (never loud), probably typically sits a few ft away from his computer where they will be placed

For sitting directly in front of the speakers, powered near-field monitors would probably be best as they are designed to be listened to that way - with the listener close to the speakers which are angled directly toward the listeners ears.

I don't have the amp yet, I'd like to be recommended one with the speakers if possible, and since I'm on a smaller budget I was assuming someone would recommend a T-Amp.

There are a lot of bookshelf speakers out there for under $300/pr and you could just add a small amp or discounted AVR, but I don't think that I would recomend a T-amp with them. For 8 ohm speakers, the T-amp puts out just over 5 watts per channel before distortion rockets north of 10%+. If your speakers were rated over 95dB/w sensitivity that might be enough power for moderate listening but for "normal" speaker sensitivities it won't. There are other Class-T amps (like the T-amp) with more power

I don't have the amp yet, I'd like to be recommended one with the speakers if possible, and since I'm on a smaller budget I was assuming someone would recommend a T-Amp. It's for a friend, but he will be listening at low to moderate volumes (never loud), probably typically sits a few ft away from his computer where they will be placed. Obviously I can't recommend him $399 speakers since he doesn't have an amp, but if a T-Amp sufficed I could probably convince him to spend the extra $25.

Personally though, I'm digging all these speaker recommendations. Even though this thread is for a friend these recommendations are looking really temping (I have a couple of KRK Rokit 8's, been stuck with them for 3 years :P).

I missed the last sentence it seems....

I'd spend more than $25 but if a simple integrated amp will suffice for his source(s) in terms of number and kinds of inputs then that Dayton DTA120 looks nice and still comes in budget with the sale on the 170SE too. If he has need of more connectivity/features, then a simple avr would work well but with shipping that means a change in speakers to keep in budget. I've heard nice things about the AudioengineA5 for an active speaker but haven't ever needed an active speaker as I've got always something on the shelf to use...

I actually experimented with a couple of 8 watt or so T-Amps in my main setup, and was actually quite shocked at how loud they could driver several different sets of speakers, and none of them would be considered high sensitivity. Eventually I went back to my 200wpc B&K, but I still use a T-amp in my bedroom setup, and I have a slightly larger than a typical T-Amp class D in my computer setup, and I have a few other amps I could use if they didn't perform as well as they do.

My favorite small amp is the Parasound Zamp - the v.1 and v.2 are 30W per channel and can be purchased used on eBay for around $100. The v.3 is 45W per channel and is very nice but these go for significantly more. Quite small - only 9-1/2"w x 2"h x 10"d

I use these amps to power my whole house audio system and have had very good results.

+1 - agree that this speaker is worth listening to. A classic design with modern updates like improved braced cabinet, crossover and drivers.

For a true 2.0 system you really should consider the woofer size and how smooth the bass is - these have a 6.5" woofer and since they are acoustic suspension they do a great job reproducing musical bass without being boomy and without port noise.

One additional benefit to the acoustic suspension design for desktop listening is the sensitivity (which is a fairly low 86dB) - when driving these with a powerful AVR it is very easy to get just the right volume even with the remote (really sensitive speakers make a huge jump in volume with a tiny volume knob adjustment - not a problem here).